1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electrical connections for printed-circuit boards in electronic systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to an arrangement for interconnecting large numbers of signals between printed-circuit boards utilizing a midplane printed-circuit board and multiple double-sided connector structure.
2. The Prior Art
It is typical in electronic systems to interconnect signals from a plurality of printed-circuit boards using a backplane structure. In systems requiring a large degree of connectivity between printed-circuit boards, the backplane is often a limiting factor. This is particularly true when the interconnect pattern must be general purpose and reconfigurable, as it is, for example, in massively parallel computers or programmable in-circuit emulators. Current technology limits the number of traces and layers in the backplane and, hence, the amount of interconnect that is feasible.
Systems with crossed connectors have been proposed and built. An example of such a system is disclosed in S. Peterson, APSS-The Advanced Processor Support System, published by Control Data Systems, Bloomington, Minn. The system disclosed therein relies on custom connectors.
Hardware emulators have been made before incorporating system level connectivity at the level disclosed herein using conventional backplanes for interconnecting system circuit boards. U.S. Pat. No. 5,036,473 discloses such an arrangement. However, the physical interconnection architecture described therein suffers from the same I/O limitation drawbacks already mentioned.